BYU-Idaho birth rates fight the national trend

by Wes Morris MOR97019@BYUI.EDU Scroll Staff

The Psalmist taught “Children are an heritage of the Lord [and] happy is the man who has a quiver full of them: they shall not be ashamed...,” but apparently not many are buying it.

The declining birth rates in the United States and across the globe are attributed to several causes.

These causes include the effects of a higher education, increased access to birth control, more women entering the labor force and the aging of population, according to research done by Kelly Johnson, a research assistant at the University of Alabama.

Since 1960 a major birth decline has taken place, with the exception of a few minor peaks in the last 15 years.

In 1970 when some states legalized abortion, a five percent decline in births occurred within those states.

Later, in 1973, when Roe v. Wade led to legalized abortion in the United States, this disparity disappeared, according to Johnson.

Church leaders, including Elder Russell M. Nelson, in a CES Broadcast on Feb. 5, 2005 told audiences that Satan has waged war on Heavenly Father’s plan.

This war is evidenced by a decline in the number of married adults and a decrease in birthrate, Nelson said.

However, here at BYU-Idaho, students may not see the trends that are prevelant in the rest of the nation.

The local hospital has had an average of 110-120 births each month.

“Last year [Madison Memorial Hospital] had 1,350 births, which is more than any other hospital of its size in the state of Idaho and possibly the country,” Sharon Pirente, the hospital’s public relations director and executive of Madison Memorial Hospital Foundation, said.

At the hospital’s Family Maternity Center, director Tammy Ferney agrees.

The amount of births is “very comparable to larger hospitals in the area,” Ferney said.

The birthrate among unmarried mothers has increased nationally from 1990 to 2000, according to the Child Trends Databank.

In addition, there has been a decline in births to mothers with 16 or more years of education.

Hispanic women led other ethnic groups in birth rates, according to the a report received through www.bloomberg.com.

There also seems to be a small increase in fertility as a trend nationwide.

The combination of these sometimes high birthrates in conjunction with the highest immigration rate worldwide is leaving some policy makers scratching their heads as to the social security emergency spoken of in Washington.

A call for social reform is likely to suffer from the smaller body of available workers.

Though recent numbers have indicated a climb in birthrates, the overall picture shows there has been a decline from past years.

Birth rates in the western states, including Idaho, have either remained the same or increased since 1990, according to the 2002 National Vital Statistics Report.

But “these increases may reflect the large increases in Hispanic populations in these states,” not the high LDS population.

Whomever you believe, the numbers nonetheless show that BYU-I and Rexburg’s birthrates are bucking the trend of the national average.